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Blog comments do not reflect the views or opinions of the Author or Ancel Glink. Some of the content may be considered attorney advertising material under the applicable rules of certain states. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Please read our full disclaimer

Friday, October 21, 2016

With Election Day fast approaching, employers should be aware of their
obligations to employees who wish to vote. While no federal laws require
employers to give employees time off to vote, many states have passed such laws.

Illinois is one of those states. Illinois law (10 ILCS 5/17-15) requires employers to give employees two
consecutive hours of paid time off on the day of an election in order to vote.
This two hours of time off can only take place during the time that the polls
are open, which this year will be from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. So, this law does not
permit employees to take time off from work for early voting.

Employees
must request time off to vote prior to Election Day. Employees who are not
required to work for a two hour time period after the polls open or before they
close are not entitled to time off from work. This means that an employee who
works a shift from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. would not be able to request two hours off
to vote. Employers can specify when their employees can take their time off.

Only employees who are eligible to vote may take time off to do so. That
means that unregistered voters or those employees who do not have the right to
vote (i.e. felons, non-citizens, etc.) cannot request time off to vote.
Employers have the right to ask an employee to provide proof of his or her
eligibility prior to providing time off to vote.

Employers must provide
their employees with time off to vote for every election, not just state and
federal elections. This means that an employee has a right to two hours of time
off to vote in a municipal election. However, employers do not have to provide
employees with time off to vote in a primary. Only general or special elections
are covered by Illinois law.

Employers with 25 or more employees also
must permit an employee to take time off to serve as an election judge. However,
an employee must provide his or her employer with 20 days of written notice
prior to taking time off to serve as an election judge. An employer is not
required to pay an employee for this time off.